Ghana to host West African Health Conference on June 21

Ghana will host the Seventh Edition of West African Health Conference and Exhibition (WAH 2012) from June 21- June 22, which will deliberate on the effective involvement of the private sector in quality health care delivery.

The event, usually held annually in Nigeria would bring together experts in medicine and allied fields under one roof to figure out best ways of fixing the missing links in quality health care delivery in West Africa.

The conference will be on the theme: “The Emergence of Public Private Partnership as a Panacea for Health Care Development in West Africa.”

Briefing the press in Accra on Wednesday, Dr. Sylvester Anemana, Chief Director, Ministry of Health, noted that the health care sector was a key area where Public Private Partnership (PPP) could play an effective role in health management and delivery for developing countries.

“This PPP stakeholders’ conference aims at presenting and assessing the current role of private-public partnerships in delivering public services in the health sector and their potential future roles in doing so,” he said.

“It will seek to provide practical experiences in the process of planning and procuring PPP in the health sector.”

The conference would address economic, financial, operational and legal considerations as well as exploring issues such as the inclusion of clinical services in PPP and focused health care services.

It will include presentations and discussions of experiences of PPP at the national and regional levels in the health sector and some international experiences.

“The style of the conference will be interactive to ensure the widest possible exchange of experiences and perspectives."

Dr. Anemana said health care delivery in Ghana had become expensive because government was paying more to doctors and other health-care professionals, leaving inadequate money to expand and improve on health care delivery.

He observed that many hospitals lacked the requisite equipment for quality health care delivery, adding “The private businessman, could for instance, be made to take custody of the laboratory services in a government hospital for effective management,” he said.

This, Dr. Anemana said, would tremendously improve on the efficiency of government hospitals to the admiration of all.

Dr. Wale Alabi, Project Director, West Africa Health 2012, said the conference would bring together health care practitioners, investors, media practitioners, policy makers, public and private health care givers, and developmental partners.

Topics to be discussed would include risks and opportunities in PPP in the health sector, ethics of PPP, financing issues in PPP, elements that drive a successful health care in PPP transactions and the legal structures governing health care in PPP.**